Part 6 · Open cloze

I got my first job when I was sixteen, working in a bakery near my house. I had to get up at five o'clock in the morning, (1) ______ was very hard at first. My boss, Mr Davies, had been a baker (2) ______ over thirty years, and he knew everything about bread.

On my first day, I dropped a tray of cakes on the floor. I was sure he would be angry, but he just laughed and said that it happened to (3) ______ new worker. He taught me how to make bread by hand, and after a few weeks I was able to make it (4) ______ any help.

I only worked there for one summer, but I learnt a lot. Most importantly, I discovered that I enjoy working with my hands much more (5) ______ sitting at a desk. Now I'm training to be a chef, and I hope to open a bakery of my (6) ______ one day.

Board games are becoming popular again, especially (1) ______ young adults. In many cities, there are now cafés where you can pay a small fee and play as many games (2) ______ you like.

One reason for their success is that people want to spend time together without looking at screens. 'When you play a board game, you have to talk to each (3) ______,' says café owner Marco Ruiz. 'It's a great way to get to know someone.'

Some games are very simple and take only ten minutes, (4) ______ others can last all evening. Marco says that the most popular games are the ones (5) ______ everyone can learn quickly. 'If the rules take an hour to explain, people get bored before they've even started,' he says. He believes board games will remain popular for many years (6) ______ come.

Last month I received a letter that I had written to myself ten years ago. When I was twelve, our teacher asked everyone in the class to write about our hopes for the future. She kept the letters and promised to post them to us (1) ______ we were twenty-two.

I had completely forgotten about it, so it was a lovely surprise. In the letter, I said that I wanted to become a famous footballer and live in a house (2) ______ a swimming pool. Neither of those things has happened yet! I also wrote that I hoped I would (3) ______ be friends with Kim, my best friend at the time. I'm happy to say that we are.

Reading the letter made me think about how much I have changed. I'm not as confident (4) ______ I was as a child, but I'm much more patient. I've decided to write another letter, (5) ______ time to my thirty-two-year-old self. I'm going to put it in a drawer and not open it (6) ______ 2036.